POLL POSITION: Ole Miss women earn second straight Preseason Top 25 ranking
The Ole Miss women’s basketball team joins the men in being considered a Top 25 preseason team.
After Chris Beard’s team was ranked No. 24 in Monday’s AP Poll, Lady Rebels head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s squad earned Top 20 ranking, landing at No. 20.
This comes a year after Ole Miss was ranked No. 12 in the 2023-24 preseason poll.
The Rebels were also ranked No. 24 in On3’s preseason Top 25 rankings.
With a core group of returners in Madison Scott, KK Deans and Kennedy Todd-Williams Ole Miss is once again viewed as a potential NCAA Tournament team. The Rebels are looking to make their fourth straight appearance in March Madness, which would be the second-longest streak since reaching the NCAA Tournament in 11 straight seasons from 1982-1992.
“They have big goals,” McCuin said of her team last month. “What I hope to figure out before we get on that flight to Paris is a rotation of maybe nine to 10 players that we can depend on. Put them through a little bit (of) adversity so we can see how we would respond to it and just kind of see who naturally will want to lead and the roles that they will want.”
Speaking of that November 4 game in Paris, Ole Miss will be taking on No. 3 Southern California to open up its season.
Not the usual level of opponent the Rebels usually face to start a new season, but the Trojans led by sophomore guard JuJu Watkins will give McCuin a very early idea of where her team stacks up against other NCAA Tournament-caliber teams.
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“This is an incredible opportunity for us to (educate) with this team,” McCuin added. “I just want to thank my administration for understanding that how important it was for us not only to continue to grow our brand, because we will be on a national stage, but also for our young ladies to have an incredible experience.
“I think our program is more prepared to play more competitive teams early on instead of waiting until conference play. I’d rather us get tested now than when we get in January.”
Ole Miss will play seven teams that are ranked in the preseason Top 25 this season, including the Trojans. No. 9 North Carolina State will serve as the other non-conference test on December 5 in Raleigh as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Below is the full AP Preseason Top 25:
- South Carolina
- UConn
- Southern California
- Texas
- UCLA
- Notre Dame
- LSU
- Iowa State
- North Carolina State
- Oklahoma
- Duke
- Baylor
- Kansas State
- Ohio State
- North Carolina
- West Virginia
- Louisville
- Maryland
- Florida State
- Ole Miss
- Creighton
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- Alabama
- Indiana
